Why Does Brass Door Furniture Tarnish?

WHY DOES BRASS DOOR FURNITURE TARNISH?
If you have brassware on your doors which does not have a lacquer coating, then the brass will tarnish and require cleaning to bring back a shine.

There are many factors which cause brass door furniture to tarnish, the main ones are:

Wet Weather – Rain and moisture

Humidity – Dampness in the air

Salt Spray – If you live by the sea or near to a main road where the gritters have been in the winter months

Pollution – Pollutants in the air

Sweat from hands – This particularly shows on door knobs, door knockers and letter plates where items are regularly touched

Looking at the above list of factors you can see that front door furniture which is exposed to the elements will tarnish much faster than internal items.

To keep brass clean you can use a good quality metal polish e.g. Brasso.

Lacquered Brass

A modern take on brass is to coat it with a protective laquer coating. This may work for a while (depending on lacquered quality) but will eventually break down leaving black spots and unsightly marks, where the brass tarnishes as the metal is exposed. Much cheap imported modern brassware is lacquered and will quickly wear away.

Do not choose lacquered brass in a seaside location as the salty air will cause early lacquer breakdown.

We are proud to sell traditional brassware so we do not sell lacquered items. Ours require regular cleaning but will last for many many years. This is brass as it used to be, a fantastic and durable metal for all items of door furniture.